Employers in Rhode Island submitted 4 WARN Act notices in February 2016, putting at risk an estimated 673 workers — up substantially from January and up 137% versus February 2015. The average filing covered 168 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry classification was not available for filings in Rhode Island this month. A total of 673 workers were affected across 4 notices.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Providence | 3 | 542 |
| Kent | 1 | 131 |
Providence felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 81% of all affected workers with 542 workers across 3 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Providence | 3 | 542 |
| Warwick | 1 | 131 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 1 | 241 |
| Closure | 1 | 60 |
Closures accounted for 9% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI | Providence | 241 | Layoff | 2016-02-01 |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI | Providence | 241 | 2016-02-01 | |
| Sam's Club | Warwick | 131 | 2016-02-05 | |
| Optum | Providence | 60 | Closure | 2016-02-01 |
Topping the list was Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI at its Providence facility, reporting 241 affected workers. Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI followed with 241 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Rhode Island labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Rhode Island. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Rhode Island WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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